


Whatever Happened To Candy Cane? Part 2: Ubi Est Ea?

by wolfvegas



Series: Max And Cindy [2]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: Ancient Rome, Caesar's Legion, Gen, Post-Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-14
Updated: 2018-11-14
Packaged: 2019-08-23 16:30:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16622411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wolfvegas/pseuds/wolfvegas
Summary: Max leaves Nevada to go looking for his sister Cindy.





	Whatever Happened To Candy Cane? Part 2: Ubi Est Ea?

Days, weeks and months passed and Max heard nothing of sister Cindy, known better by her ominous gang moniker "Candy Cane". Her son Fury was now 6 years old and the apple of his grandparents' eyes, singing songs of praise at temple with his mother and displaying a keen eagerness with the wooden practice sword his father had carved him for his birthday. The loss of their daughter no doubt weighed heavy on their hearts but they did not speak of her, although Max later discovered his father had organised a search party to look for her around the cove area in which they lived, though they were looking for a body and did not expect to find her alive.

 

It was completely by chance that Max discovered a clue to the direction she might have travelled, as a young male acquaintance remarked of seeing a striking golden dagger for sale among a travelling vendor's inventory, its handle carved in Caesar's Legion's distinctive bull insignia; he would have purchased it as a gift for Max if only it wasn't 2000 caps. Abandoning everything, Max headed for the last known location of the vendor in south-west Oregon and for the first time in his life, Max left the state of Nevada.

 

To say he was afraid was an understatement; Max was petrified, he was leaving his family behind and wandering through unknown territory, his combat skills probably on par with 6-year-old Fury's. He carried with him two handguns and two blades, and although he hoped never to have to use any of them, an encounter early on with a group of bloatflies drew the first fire of his experience and bloodied his hands, inducting him into the violent kill-or-be-killed nature of the wasteland, teaching him the valuable lesson of being quick on the trigger as even the slightest moment's hesitation can be costly.

This lesson was all the more evident in a dying man he encountered laying sprawled in the street outside a saloon, the shotgun blast in his abdomen attracting insects before he was even dead yet. The sight was shocking and Max was too afraid to approach him whether to render aid or mercy and the memory of the man with his long, grey hair spattered with blood and his high-pitched whimper stayed with Max for the longest time, making regular appearances in nightmares should sleep ever find him.

.

Rest was possible on dirty mattresses and makeshift bedding, but the level of relaxation required for sleep was hard to find when danger lurked all around and sounds and shapes both unfamiliar and unfriendly perforated the darkness. Drinking dirty water had begun to give him a constant throbbing headache and he lay awake for hours missing the relatively comfortable lifestyle he had enjoyed back at Cottonwood Cove, obsessing over what his parents must think of him; the note he left behind had been reworked and reworded countless times, ultimately reading: "I've gone to find her - Maximillius". Once he had missed morning prayers his mother would start to look for him, she would be angry, disappointed. Father wouldn't find out until a few days later when his squad returned from rotation at The Fort. He had abandoned them just like Cindy had and the guilt ate away at him like maggots in a gunshot wound.

Continuing north through Oregon he sought out the merchant, asking in bars and stores for clues to her whereabouts, meanwhile drawing wary glances for the crimson cape he wore, a colour associating him with the Legion - something that could be equally as advantageous as disadvantageous.

 

Finally picking up on her trail, he followed the tracks of her pack Brahmin (a useful skill taught by his father from a young age) before finally locating her just outside the ghost town of Cherry Falls which was currently nothing more than a smoking crater. Her accompanying mercenary seemed anxious on the trigger of his assault weapon as Max shouted and ran towards them, arms waving frantically in the air, unable to contain his excitement at finally tracking her down. An excitement that was short-lived however, as she had sold the dagger some days ago and was "unable" to remember how she had acquired it until Max had given her every cap he carried plus one of his blades. Only then did she reveal that much of her inventory comes from a group of raiders based in Pennsylvania, but who often travel out to trade and Max's other blade bought him the location of this trading port and the opportunity to accompany the merchant on her journey there tomorrow. And although she did not recall seeing Candy Cane or even recognise her name, Max's hopes that he would find her could not be dissuaded.

And so he followed behind her the next morning treading very wearily on the back of yet another sleepless night, two weapons lighter and on an empty stomach jittering with nerves, excitement and stress. His crimson cape was the last valuable item he could afford to part with but he saved the notion of selling it for the journey back when there would be two mouths to feed. Hopefully.

His cape was promptly stripped from him however, as well as every other item he carried when the merchant and her mercenary turned on him and marched him naked at gunpoint towards a waiting group of raiders who hooted and cackled before tossing him a tattered slave outfit and clamping his wrists and ankles with iron chains. Max had learned his second important lesson of the wasteland a little too late - trust no one.


End file.
